The Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, conducted a field tour and situation assessment in southern Lebanon today (Friday), with the Commander of the Northern Command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, Commander of Division 91, Brig. Gen. Yuval Gz, Commander of Brigade 769, Col. Y, and additional commanders.
The Chief of Staff spoke with the commanders and soldiers, both regular and reserve, conducted a situation assessment, received an operational briefing, and provided directives for the continuation of operations in southern Lebanon.
Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir: “We see here the entire area before us, from where they are firing towards our communities, and we understand the mission here better than anywhere. I believe this terrain we see before us significantly reflects the mission, the threat, and the directions we are heading.”
“There is a generation of heroes here. This is a fateful and necessary campaign. I believe you are doing excellent work and we need to ensure that we persevere now and utilize the time to our advantage. Yesterday, the names of Sgt. Maj. Uri Greenberg z”l and Sgt. Aviad Elhanan Walensky z”l were cleared for publication.”
“This morning I spoke with my friend, Brig. Gen. (Res.) Yair Walensky, the father of Aviad z”l. Yair was my subordinate. He served as the commander of the 77th Armored Battalion when I commanded the 7th Armored Brigade. Yair lost his brother, Avi, who was murdered with his wife in a severe terrorist attack in Samaria in 2002. In our conversation, Yair told me that Aviad z”l had no doubts – the mission was clear to him. He asked me this morning, out of his great pain, that we continue forward, and so we shall.”
“This week we attacked bridges and access routes north of the Litani River. The bridges were used for passage by Radwan terrorists and for transferring weapons southward, in order to harm Israeli civilians.”
“We are at a historic crossroads. We are operating according to a plan, offensively, to fundamentally change the security situation – from Tehran to Beirut.”
“Your fighting against Hezbollah is important – thanks to you, the organization continues to be hit and is weakened. We are dismantling and will continue to strike our enemies on any front where we are required to do so – we will continue to operate and will be here as long as necessary to achieve significant damage and remove the threat in the north. We have more significant plans for the continuation of the campaign. The communities of the north rely on you – continue to operate offensively and professionally and remove the threats from above the communities. I trust you.”
“In the campaign against Iran, this week we will increase the pace of attacks. So far, we have severely damaged missile production capabilities, remaining infrastructure from its nuclear program, and regime targets.”
“Reservists – we are in a campaign that has been ongoing for over two and a half years of war. Time and again, you are called upon and report for duty. I am confident that you will see the strength of the reservists and your deep experience also in this fighting. Your contribution is immense for the IDF and the State of Israel. I appreciate and honor each one of you.”